Want a comforting and delicious side for your Mexican dish? Forget about traditional rice and give this traditional Mexican fideo a try!
Growing up, fideo was a staple in our house. This “mexican spaghetti”, as my husband likes to call it, is so easy to make and requires minimal ingredients. Everyone’s version of fideo varies depending on how their family made it, where they are from, etc. We always had two versions, a “soupy” one and dry version, also known as fideo seco. I won’t even lie that I have resourced to using broken up angel hair pasta for my fideo and have just as delicious results. You do you, no right or wrong way of making this deliciousness.
Fideo is made with Vermicelli pasta which can be found just about anywhere. I have seen it at my local grocery stores, Walmart, and Target. You can also order it online off Amazon or here. As I mentioned above, broken up angel hair pasta or even spaghetti works great too. The process used to make fideo is the same process used to make my Mexican rice. Fideo is a little less “attention-seeking”, if you will. Your water to pasta ratio does not have to be perfect and you really can’t mess this recipe up. If you add a little more water than you wanted, you get the soup version of fideo. If not enough water, you get the dry version. Both are equally delicious and can be enjoyed as a side or dish of its own.
Next time you can’t decide what kind of side dish to make to accompany your Mexican meal, definitely try this out! It’s a little different than Mexican rice but just as quick and easy. I promise, you won’t even miss the rice with this! If you want to make it a dish of its own, just ladle it into a bowl and top with queso fresco and some salsa. Serve with flour tortillas and you’ve got a simple and delicious meal to enjoy!
Fideo
Ingredients
- 1 (7.5 oz) pkg fideo or vermicelli or angel hair pasta, broken into pieces
- 1/4 large onion chopped
- 1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
- 1 tsp sazon optional
- 2 tbsp chicken bouillon
- 5 cups water
- or
- 5 cups chicken broth
- oil
Instructions
- Place water in a pot to boil, (or place chicken broth to boil).
- Place dutch oven or large saucepan over medium heat with some oil of choice.
- Cook onion for a couple of minutes and add fideo. Brown the fideo until slightly golden and fragrant, stirring frequently to ensure it doesn't burn.
- Add bouillon and sazon to water and mix thoroughly.
- Pour tomato sauce and seasoned water or broth into dutch oven or saucepan with fideo. Mix well and salt to taste, if needed.
- Cover dutch oven or saucepan with lid and let simmer over medium heat until pasta cooked through, about 15 minutes.
- Add more water or broth if soupier fideo is wanted.
I made this today and guau! It was delicious. I did everything the same except I did not have tomato sauce so I puréed a can of diced tomatoes. It smelled and tasted like my mom’s. Thanks, Jess! I really enjoy your recipes.
Thanks so much, Claudia! Glad you loved it as much as we do!
Wonderful comfort food! Love the texture and flavor, and easy to make. Win-win!
Thanks so much, Laura!
I made this today and it was the best fideo soup I’ve ever made and I’ve been making some for years. I’ve played with many recipes and this one is it. I think the sazón was the missing ingredient. Thank you!
Hi Xio, thanks for giving this recipe a try. I am so glad you loved it as much as we do!
It was so good! But! How do I get it to not dry out all the soup?!?! After it sits on the stove, the soup is all gone!
Hey there! You can certainly add more broth or water to make it “soupier”. Fideo is so versatile and people like it either more like soup or drier closer to rice. That can be controlled with the amount of liquid and you can adjust seasonings to taste if you add more liquid. Sometimes for the next day reheat I just add chicken broth and it’s just as good!